Veterinary Nursing Student Cara Ryan to Play with the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland in Carnegie Hall on St Patrick’s Day
Stage 1 Veterinary Nursing student Cara Ryan is set to play in Carnegie Hall with the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland (CBOI) on St Patrick’s Day. Violinist Cara, who is in her fifth season with the CBOI, previously had the honour of playing for President Michael D Higgins in 2020. As was the case for most musical groups, in person activities were very limited during the pandemic, so the Orchestra rehearsed virtually and recorded the ‘CBOI at Home’ series, which is available on their (opens in a new window)YouTube channel. Past CBOI violin soloist Patricia Tracey played at President Joe Biden’s Inauguration and for Cara, being able to say that she shared the stage with Patricia for two years is an honour in itself.
CBOI members rehearse every Sunday in Dundalk, which takes a huge commitment, but particularly since the pandemic, being able to see the group every week and to make music together has become so much more important for Cara after months of playing at home with a metronome! Conductor Greg Beardsell travels over from England every week for rehearsals and concerts and Cara finds him very easy to work with. The CBOI also had the opportunity to work with Richard Beadle, West End conductor for Hamilton and Freddie Tapner and the CEO of the London Musical Theatre Orchestra, during their Summer workshop.
Cara is currently studying Veterinary Nursing and she says that she has wanted to work with animals since primary school, having always had cats and from working with horses from a young age. A teacher in primary school told Cara that her interest in all things veterinary was just a phase, but that has very much proven not to be the case! Cara is really enjoying the Vet Nursing course so far, even though she initially had some concerns about dealing with certain aspects of surgery. She has found that being able to go into the anatomy hall and work with the specimens there has really helped her confidence in this regard. In the future, Cara sees herself working in mixed practice so that she can combine her interest in both feline and equine nursing. She would also like to have the opportunity to work with endangered species and lions or tigers in the future.
About the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland
The CBOI was established in 1995 and is now composed of over 130 exceptionally talented young musicians from all over Ireland and Northern Ireland. A further 200 children and teens receive free music tuition through the CBOI’s extraordinary music education programmes. CBOI recently won a ‘National Rural Impact Award’ for their work.
The CBOI is best known in Ireland for their nationwide Peace Proms programme which is a free resource and choral education initiative for primary schools. 35,000 primary school children from almost 700 schools in Ireland and Northern Ireland form their Children’s Peace Choirs and perform with the orchestra at concerts held across the island in January through March.
Their upcoming 17-concert series starts in Limerick before moving to Dublin, Waterford and Belfast and then travelling to New York for a landmark concert at the world’s most iconic music mecca, Carnegie Hall, on St Patrick’s Day. The concert series celebrates the group’s work and achievements in promoting peace, unity and tolerance on the island of Ireland since their foundation in 1995 and will also mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
For more on the CBOI, see their website: (opens in a new window)https://peaceproms.com